1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gaming and to card games. More particularly, the present invention relate to a method of playing a Poker card game called "EasyPoker" in which a number of players play against one designated player or against a casino or card room ("the house"). The game can also be played electronically in a slot machine or as a computer game.
2. The Background Art
Poker is a very popular card game, played in homes, card rooms, and casinos. There are countless variations of Poker, but they all have certain common features. All players wager equal sums money into a betting pool for that hand called a "pot". Each player then receives a number of cards. There is a round of betting, where players wager money commensurate with how they feel their hand will fare among the hands of other players. Players who feel they have losing hands may instead drop out of the competition ("fold"). Remaining players then often have the opportunity to modify their hands by either replacing cards or adding cards, depending on the ,,game being played. Another round of betting takes place, followed by another period where players may modify their hands. This scenario may repeat one or more times, depending on the game being played, ending in a period where the hands of players remaining in the game are compared to each other to determine the winner.
In a typical betting round, each player acts in order. If no players have made a bet, the player who is acting typically has the option to make no bet ("pass" or "check") or make a bet. If another player has already made a bet, the player who is acting may match the largest bet made ("call"), match the largest bet and bet more ("raise"), or make no bet and fold. The players continue acting in turn until every player has either called or folded. If, at any time, only one player is left in the game, due to all other players having folded, play terminates at that time, and that remaining player wins the pot.
If more than one player remains in the game after all the hands are complete and all rounds of betting are finished, the winner is determined in a showdown. The players who have not folded reveal the cards in their hand, and all hands are then compared to an ordering sequence. The player whose hand has the best value, according to this ordering sequence, is awarded the "pot").
There are countless variations of Poker, but most of the more popular games fall into three categories: draw, stud, and hold'em.
In a draw game, each player receives five cards, after which is a round of betting. Then each player may replace a number of cards in his/her hand and then there is another round of betting. Finally the hands are compared according to an ordering sequence and the best hand wins the pot.
In a stud game, a player receives one or two cards face down and a card face up, after which there is a round of betting. Then each player receives several more cards one at a time, with a round of betting after each time all the players have receive an additional card. Whether each additional card is dealt face-up or face down is determined by the rules of the variation of stud Poker being played. After all cards have been dealt, and after the final round of betting, all player hands are compared according to a standard Poker ranking system, and the player holding the best hand according the ranking system wins the pot.
In hold'em Poker, the player receives between two and five cards face down, with the number of cards depending on the variation. There is a round of betting after which three cards are dealt face-up in the center of the table. These are "community cards", and each player may use them as part of his/her Poker hand. There is a second round of betting after which a fourth community card is dealt, again face up in the center of the table, followed by a round of betting, a fifth community card, and a final round of betting. Player hands are then ranked according to a standard Poker ranking system, and the player holding the best hand according the ranking system wins the pot.
The forms of pokerdescribed above encompass most variations of poker, but there exists many other variations that fit neatly into these categories.
In Poker, three common methods of choosing a winner are: 1) high hand wins, 2) low hand wins, and 3) high hand and low hand split the pot.
When determining the best high hand, the hands are typically ranked as follows, from best to worst: Five of a kind, Straight flush, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. A flush is when all cards in a hand are the same suit. A straight is when five cards in a hand are contiguous in a sequence from low to high, such as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7, 8, 9, 10, J. A straight flush is when five cards in a hand are contiguous in a sequence from low to high, and also of the same suit. Three of a kind is when three cards of the same value are in a hand, and a pair is when two cards of the same value are in a hand. Four of a kind is when four cards of the same value are in a hand, and five of a kind is when five cards of the same value are in a hand, either through the use of wild cards, or through the use of a nonstandard deck. A full house is three of a kind, and a pair in the same hand at the same time.
For determining the best low hand, the normal ranking from best to worst is: lowest top card, one pair, two pair, three of a kind, full house. Typically, it does not matter if your hand would make a straight or flush, although there are variations where a straight or flush would count against you.
For games where players having the high hand split the pot with players having the low hand, each player in the game selects the five cards in their hand that make up their best high hand and the five cards in their hand that make up their best low hand. If a player's best high hand is better than any other player's best high hand, that player wins half the pot. If a player's best low hand is better than any other player's best low hand, that player wins half the pot. If a player has the best high hand and the best low hand, that player wins the entire pot.
While Poker is one of the most popular card games played in the United States, it is not one of the more popular and profitable casino games. Several features of Poker make it unattractive to the casual gambler.
First, a person who wants to play must often wait to get a seat in a game. Unlike Blackjack, a new player cannot just find an empty table and sit down and play. There must be at least one other player, and generally several other players to start a game. If there are no empty seats in a current game and there are not enough players waiting to start a new game, a new player must wait. This drawback does not appeal to the casual player, particularly visitors from out of town who have limited time available to play. It also does not appeal to the casino when prospective players are waiting rather than playing. A waiting player does not generate revenue for the casinos.
Second, casino Poker is intimidating for most casual players. There are many complex rules and conventions that the casual player would not be familiar with. There are also many "regulars" in the casino who make money off of the casual player. Conventional Poker requires that you not only play your hand, but you must play the hand against a possibly more skillful opponent. Skillful players are deceptive, making it very difficult for the casual player to know how to play. Since Poker involves a great deal of skill, a player who plays regularly has a large advantage over the casual player. The casual player often feels that he will be "taken" by the regulars in the casino, some of whom play professionally, and he could very well be correct.
While some players love the complexity of Poker, others find it too taxing to be a pleasant form of recreation. Most people who want to have fun do not enjoy waiting to get into a game, and then having to work hard to try to outsmart higher skilled players. Most people are looking for something easier and more readily available.
Blackjack and Baccarat are games which are easy to play, and which are generally more available to play. A player can usually locate an empty seat in a games, and start playing immediately. Since a player in either of these games plays against the house, he does not need to fear the possibility of other players outplaying him.
While many players favor Poker over Blackjack and Baccarat, they find casino Poker unavailable and intimidating.
As a result, casinos have introduced a variety of games that are hybrids of Poker and Blackjack. These hybrids are played against the house like Blackjack, rather than against other players as in Poker. They are much simpler than Poker. However, they use the ranking of hands from Poker as a basis for deciding whether the player wins.
The two most successful hybrid games of this type are "Caribbean Stud" and "Let It Ride."
In Caribbean Stud, the player begins by making a starting bet called the "ante." The player and the dealer then each receive five cards. One of the dealer's cards is dealt face up. After examining his hand and the dealer's exposed card, the player decides whether to make an additional bet of two times the ante or to surrender his ante. All the hands are then turned over. If the dealer's hand is not an Ace-King or better (as Poker hands are ranked), the casino pays the player the amount of his ante. If the dealer's hand is at least Ace-King, the player's hand and the dealer's hand are compared. If the dealer's hand is better, the player loses his ante and his bigger bet. If the player's hand is better, the player wins the amount of his ante and the amount of his additional bet. If the player makes two pair or better the player wins more. For example, if the player makes two pair the player wins twice his additional bet. If the player makes three of a kind, he wins three times his additional bet. The player can win up to 100 times his bet with a Royal Flush. A Royal Flush is a hand of cards having 10, J, Q, K, A, all in the same suit.
In the game "Let It Ride", a player starts by placing three equal bets in front of him after which he then receives three cards. The player has the option to take one of his bets back or leave all three bets in play. The player then is given a fourth card and a community card is dealt face up. (All players at the table may use the community card as part of their hand.) The player again has the option to remove one of his bets. At this point the player has 1, 2, or 3 bets in play. Finally, the player receives a fifth card, and a second community card is dealt face up on the table. The player is then allowed to make the best possible Poker hand from the combination of his five cards and the two community cards. If the player makes a good enough hand, the casino pays off based on a payment schedule similar to that of video Poker. With less than a pair of tens, the player loses his wager. With a pair of tens through a pair of aces, the player wins the amount of his remaining wagers. With two pair, the player wins twice the value of each of his wagers. The payments scale upwards to a maximum of 1,000 times each of his wagers for achieving a Royal Flush.
Neither of these two games, "Caribbean Stud" and "Let it Ride", is Poker. While they use the hand rankings of Poker, the player does not bet, raise, or check as in conventional Poker. Neither game follows the format of five-card draw, five-card stud, seven-card stud, Texas hold'em or any other conventional Poker game. The cards are not dealt or revealed in the same manner as Poker, and these games do not have the same sequence of bets. In many respects the two games are closer to video Poker slot machines than table Poker.